Following the success of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for a number of indications and surgical specialties, medical device companies are increasingly turning to surgical robotics as the next big innovation to solve the limitations still present in MIS procedures. In this context, leading data and analytics company GlobalData, believes that the surgical robotics market will become more crowded and grow to support a wider variety of surgical procedures.

The systems for robotic-assisted surgical procedures are experiencing increased interest globally. They exist for an array of indications from a variety of general surgery procedures to orthopedic knee replacement procedures.

The competitive landscape for surgical robotics is vast with both large MNCs and small startups venturing into the space. Among these, Intuitive Surgical occupies the top position in the global surgical robotics market since the FDA approval of the company’s first generation da Vinci system in 2000.

Following Intuitive Surgical’s success, global competitors including Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson, and Stryker have either partnered with or acquired surgical robotics companies to help accelerate robotic innovation and gain market share.

Jennifer Ryan, medical devices analyst at GlobalData, says: “While robotic-assisted surgery aims to provide increased precision and control to a complicated procedure, they are generally very expensive to procure. On the other hand, the majority of companies at the forefront of surgical robotics systems are startups (small players), which are reliant on funding and capital raisings for continued advancement.”

Over the past year, several surgical robotics players including Titan Medical, Medrobotics and Accuray have announced capital raisings through public offerings or private share placements. The largest deals have assisted CMR Surgical, Corindus Vascular Robotics and Mazor Robotics.

In September 2017, Mazor Robotics completed the third tranche of private share placement for $40 million, for a total of $72 million. The offering also brings Medtronic’s total investment in Mazor to $125 million. According to GlobalData, surgical robotics companies raised a total of $296.1 million between July 2017 and July 2018.

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